The Fate of the Universe
by Frazzuccino
Summary: The Universe is under threat. The Doctor and Clara must gather their friends in order to fight off foes from the Doctors scary past. Will they solve the impossible puzzle in time or will time itself fall apart?
1. Two Words

Chapter 1.

"Run!" yelled the Doctor as he began sprinting down the corridor with Clara hot on his heels. A faint cry of exterminate rebounded off the walls, followed by an explosion which shook the floor. The Daleks were closing in on them quickly. At the end of the corridor, they turned left only to find a gigantic metal door blocking their path. "Oh just my luck. Look, it doesn't even have a handle."

"Well can't you sonic it open then?" responded Clara.

"Nope," said the doctor. "The doors on Skaro can only be opened by Daleks. Unless you have one of their plunger thingies hidden in your frock, which I very much doubt it, then we are stuck here for good. The door is protected by 100 million separate calculations which would take about two hours for me to crack without the help of the TARDIS. We're done for!"

"Oh move over," said Clara exasperatedly. She placed her left hand upon the door and a split second later, it slid open.

"How did you do that?" exclaimed the Doctor in disbelief.

"I may not carry a Dalek plunger in my frock, but I was once converted into a Dalek," replied Clara. "Oswin had full access to their security codes on the Pathweb and as I have all her memories, I could bypass the lock. Now don't just stand there, run you clever boy."

They started sprinting again as the door slammed shut behind them, locking the Daleks in the lower levels of the citadel. The corridors all looked the same; the floor a dull grey which stretched as far as they could see. Windows lined the walls however the glass which once had been placed there was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a foul stench came in through the windows and hung heavily in the air. Storm clouds rumbled in the distance, penetrating the silent atmosphere.

_Silence._

"Doctor," said Clara slowly as she suddenly came to a stop, "Where are the Daleks?"

"You locked them downstairs don't you remember? Well I say locked, more likely momentarily halted as even though you deadlocked the door, they could quite easily fly out the window. Back to your question, they could have descended down into the basement to put their feet up to rest so to speak and have a cup of tea. Daleks _do_ make a good cup of tea. Or they could have been summoned at this very moment to the front lines of the Time War where they got destroyed which would be very nice indeed. Or thirdly, they are currently hunting us down to exterminate us as we are kind of trespassing on their home planet. Knowing my luck, I bet you it's the third option. For some reason the worst option always happens to us. We have to get back to the TARDIS."

Up and up several sets of staircases they climbed, until they had clambered out onto the rooftop of the building. This lead directly onto the top of a cliff which was connected adjacently to the Citadel. Below them, the remains of a massive town sprawled out into a vast valley. A single stream snaked its way between the buildings, cutting the whole town in half. The sky was a majestic deep red in colour as the sun beckoned towards the horizon. Not far away a humongous tempest was drawing nearer, drowning everything in its path.

"C'mon this way," the Doctor spoke as he turned to Clara, "And stay close. We don't want any more adventures, especially on this planet." As they were leaving, the Doctor swooped down and grabbed a plastic umbrella which was lying in the dirt beside the entrance to the building. Giving it a quick shake to remove the dust, he swung it under his arm as they set off in the direction of a waterfall which cascaded down into the valley below. On the near edge of it stood the TARDIS, sticking out like a sore thumb as its blue walls clashed with the red dirt. It was not the only thing waiting for him at the riverside.

Surrounding the TARDIS was a squadron of Daleks, blocking any path to it. Despite this, the Doctor confidently walked towards them as if they were nothing more than insignificant creatures that were of no threat whatsoever. Clara followed tentatively behind him, unaware of what was the cause of the Doctors' newfound confidence. The Doctor stopped several steps before the first Dalek and looked it straight in the eye.

"You have stolen something of ours," accused the Dalek in its usual monotonous voice.

"I have indeed," replied the Doctor, "Though if it was something of any value, I would have expected it to have been better guarded. It is not in my experience that Daleks let slip of their secrets to their enemies."

"You have identified yourself to be an enemy of the Daleks. You will surrender!" demanded the lead Dalek.

"Enemy of the Daleks," said the Doctor, "well that's the understatement of the year. I've only wiped out your entire race. Well nearly all, you're like rabbits; you keep popping up all over the place. Unfortunately every time I run into someone of your kind, somebody dies. I'm still here so it shouldn't take too long for you to figure it out who perishes in that tiny brain of yours. Anyway, I would love to stay here and chat but I've got places to go, people to meet, things to do and I don't fancy getting wet in that storm do you?"

"We have an atmospheric shell placed around this complex; the storm shall not affect us," announced the Dalek with a trace of gleefulness in its voice. "If you do not surrender and present us with your weapons then the female shall die first."

"The female," exclaimed Clara angrily as she stepped forward, "has a name. Clara Oswin Oswald at your service. I would ask who you were, but I already know everything there is to know about you. Last time we met, your kind converted me into a Dalek and look at me know. 100 percent human and with perhaps an even greater knowledge of the Daleks then the Doctor himself."

"Doctor who?" asked the Dalek.

"It's just the Doctor. Clara would you mind coming and standing under this umbrella with me for a minute. I wouldn't want you to get caught out in that storm. Oh and Daleks... That atmospheric shell had a nice big off switch on the third floor. When I see a red button which clearly states 'Do not Press', I couldn't resist pressing it. I'm so sorry but I don't think a shower of concentrated sulphuric acid would mix too nicely with the polycarbide in your armour."

No sooner then he had finished speaking, the first spots of rain began to fall leaving hideous looking gashes on the Daleks armour. Seeing the impact this was having on them, the Daleks fled off into the distance leaving the Doctor and Clara standing alone on the cliff. With nothing now blocking their path, they quickly entered the TARDIS where the umbrella was deposited in its stand and the familiar whirring filled the room.

"Why didn't the rain affect us?" asked Clara curiously. "After all, it was only a flimsy umbrella protecting us."

"That's not just any umbrella," said the doctor proudly. "It's got sodium hydroxide laced into the backbone of it. This reacted and neutralised the rain meaning it was harmless when it reached us. I got it as a gift from the slitheen after I defeated the Sontaran in their invasion of Raxacoricofallapatorius. I honestly thought it was a pretty useless gift at the time but I hung onto it just in case a situation exactly like that arose."

"What exactly did you steal?" enquired Clara. "It must be very small if you're able to hide it in that coat of yours."

"It is both insignificantly small whilst possessing the ability for it to be infinitely large at the same time," replied the Doctor. "I stole information. Two words in fact. Yet I believe that it could quite easily decide the fate of the universe and save it from the impending doom. Enough pessimism for now though. All this running and fighting has made me hungry and tired. Next stop is Planet Earth where I can replenish my stock of Jammie Dodgers and buy myself a new Fez. Fezzes are cool!"


	2. River Island

"What do you mean you don't serve Jammie Dodgers?" asked the doctor who was clearly annoyed. "I thought this was meant to be a good restaurant seeing as you have three Michelin stars and all. I met the Michelin brothers once... Lovely folk though they were a little too obsessed with their tyres if you ask me. Well if I can't have that, fish fingers and custard will have to do."

"Umm doctor," interrupted Clara, "I'm pretty sure they don't serve that either. You see, everything you can order is on the menu and well all the food here is rather quite posh. If you want to have fish fingers, go to the supermarket. I meanwhile would like the 'Isle of Gigha Halibut with Atlantic King crab, finger lime and ras el hanout infused broth.'"

The waiter frantically finished scribbling it down, bowed politely and trotted off into an open doorway. Classical music filled the air, with a live five-piece string ensemble playing on an elevated stage. The room that they were dining in was massive; not just lengthwise but also height wise as the ceiling towered miles above them. They were sitting at one of the smaller tables, coated in a white dressing and filled with rather expensive looking crockery. Scents of exotic foods wafted through the air making their mouths water.

The waiter kept on coming back to them, insisting that the doctor ordered something. He finally gave in after the seventh attempt and sent the doctor a very nasty look. Meanwhile, Clara's' meal arrived and looked every bit as elegant as it had sounded. After she had finished it, they stood up to leave only to be swamped by a cashier.

"I don't have any money," Clara told the doctor who also looked quite worried. "Can you pay for it seeing as you insisted that we go out on this date."

"It's not a date," replied the doctor. "I'm a married man and we're just two friends meeting up for a meal. Fine. Two very good friends. I don't have any money either but I know just the thing to pay with."

He took out and showed his psychic paper to the cashier who let out a small scream and kneeled down in front of him. The doctor turned to Clara who looked as bemused as he did.

"You may rise," the doctor spoke in a very authoritative voice. "Tell me why you bowed to me in the first place?" The reply was barely audible. "I'm the king of Venezuela? Of course, I'm the king of Venezuela and this here is my trusted servant Clara. Anyway, we're on a bit of a tight schedule so if you can pass the bill along to embassy, I'm sure they will pay up."

The cashier led them out, her cheeks burning a vivid shade of red. They were now standing in the middle of London, packed full of people and traffic. It was a dreary day with dark clouds spanning the length of the sky. Turning left as they exited the building, the doctor led her down the street. Half-way down, they walked past a giggling group of schoolboys who started pointing and laughing at him.

"What were they laughing at?" asked the doctor.

"You," replied Clara. "I didn't quite catch all that they were saying but the words 'odd' and 'bow tie' were definitely mentioned. You may not look alien but your fashion sense is."

"What's wrong with bow ties? Bow ties are cool." said the doctor. They carried on walking along the road until they reached a shop entitled 'River Island'. Its lights were dimmed and a close sign hung loosely on the door. On display inside the shop window, a fez sat on top of a wooden box. Only one thing could happen next. In a flash, the doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and the door swung open.

"You can't just walk into a closed shop," insisted Clara. "The closed sign is there for a reason. Plus I don't really want to get charged with theft for the sake of you getting a hat."

The doctor gave her a ridiculous look as he entered the shop. "I'm not stealing it, I'm temporarily boring it. Just in exactly the way I have done with the TARDIS. I will return it to Galiffrey someday." He picked up the fez and placed it on his head. Behind him, something clattered and a strange figure emerged from the shadows.

"Hello Sweetie," sounded the voice of Riversong from the darkness. "I was wandering if you were ever going to turn up."

"How on Earth did you find us?" asked the doctor. "Was it simply to hard to phone me so we could arrange like normal people to meet up?"

"You wouldn't answer your phone and besides, we aren't normal people" responded River. "It wasn't too difficult to find you. You're always wandering around London in the 21st century. The moment I saw the fez in the window, I knew at some point you would come here. And here you are."

"Oh I've missed you River," said the doctor nostalgically. "Not to put a dampener on this moment or anything, but you died. How can you be here?"

"Spoilers," answered River, giving nothing away. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her diary and began scanning through the pages.

"Couldn't you just be a consciousness, like we saw in Trenzalore?" Clara spoke for the first time since entering the shop.

"No. I can ensure you that my body is here as well as my mind. So how many of the sacred words have you discovered yet? Looking at your face, I would say no more then six but probably leaning towards four."

"Two," the doctor answered. "How do you know of the universes most secret words?"

"You told me about them. Well mentioned, I think we were… I think the proper term is canoodling at the time." River smiled at the doctor endearingly.

"I don't want to get in the middle of anything," interrupted Clara, "but we have company." The lights inside the shop flickered casting the shop into a moment of darkness. The mannequins stood hauntingly, filling the room with their silent presence. The company Clara mentioned were standing just inside the back entrance, staring at them.

"We must speak to the doctor," demanded the foremost figure in a robotic voice.

"Wait, I know that voice" Clara commented. "It's a cyberman."


End file.
